Now that he finally felt himself becoming whole again, Alaric could fully register the situation around him. And what he saw was anything but reassuring.
A ragtag group of sixteen fought desperately against more than thirty attackers, each one a seasoned and ruthless killer. The air was thick with the scent of blood and the clash of steel, punctuated by the occasional flash of spells and projectiles flying around.
These weren't ordinary men they faced though, they were Etherists, individuals who had awakened their cores and could perform superhuman feats. Each one moved with a deadly precision that spoke of years of honing their craft, their eyes glinting with the cold, calculating light of professional killers.
Despite the overwhelming odds, their pitifully small party managed to hold their ground, largely due to the tall guardian at his side. This towering figure moved like a force of nature, his sword a blur as he cut down anyone stupid enough to come too close. The others, though not as powerful, fought with a ferocity that belied their numbers, each one more formidable than any of the attackers, save for the three figures in the distance who appeared to be the ones orchestrating the whole assault.
After observing the battlefield for a second or two, Alaric came to a grim conclusion: fighting it out would only lead to their eventual deaths. They lacked the manpower and resources for a battle of attrition, and the three figures ahead, especially the one at the forefront who seemed to be leading this force, was setting off alarm bells in his brain. To command such men required a special kind of monster.
'Just when I thought I'd finally gotten out of one hell, only to be thrown right into another.'
He thought, his expression grim and cold.
Leading them toward Ryneth, which his guardian had said was relatively close, seemed like the wisest option. But would it be that easy?
As if sensing the same doubts, the guardian beside him turned and asked tactfully, "My lord, do you have any spells stored in your core that might help defend yourself?"
"My core?"
Alaric was surprised, quickly checking. Sure enough, just beneath his abdomen, he found a core. It turns out he was an Etherist too!
Peering deeper into his core, he realized that while he was indeed an Etherist, he was only a beginner, still in the initial stages. His core held a single spell, one he still hasn't completely merged with yet. Worse still, he had no idea what kind of spell it was or what purpose it served.
But just as he began to inspect the core a little more, he also noticed another spell stored. This one wasn't stored completely in the core but around its edges. It was fragmented, as if the essence of the spell wasn't present but merely its effect. Most likely, it was the residual effect of a powerful spell embedded in him as a form of protection, probably the one the guardian was aiming for.
'Well, at least it's something'
He thought, furrowing his brows into a knot.
He was just about to reply when the tempo of the battle suddenly shifted. The attackers changed their strategy; where before they had come in waves, using their numbers to wear down the defenders, they now pressed in all at once, launching a final, all-out assault.
To make matters worse, one of the three leaders who'd been standing idly moments ago decided to join in the fun. Brandishing his longsword occasionally arched by lightning with a relaxed, almost carefree demeanor, he walked towards the chaos as if strolling through a garden. A garden where people screamed and exploded, but a garden nonetheless.
The man wore a black hood that obscured his face and shrouded his body, much like the other minions around him. His tall frame was slouched, making him appear weak and tired, yet the pressure he emanated was anything but.
What unsettled Alaric most of all was that the man's attention was locked onto him. Those blood-red, predatory eyes fixed solely for him.
'Uh shit…'
Alaric wasn't intimidated. He had faced adversaries far more terrifying than this guy.
He was just vexed at the latest sequence of events lately.
'At least they finally drew out one of the leaders.
"What the hell are you waiting for?!" Alaric called out shamelessly. "Go stop that thing before it gets over here!"
Snapped into motion by the yell, the guardian stiffened, then hurriedly planted himself between Alaric and the slouching disaster. His sword came up again, not quite as confidently this time.
He glanced back at Alaric, as if to say something meaningful.
But his lord was already limping further back, away from all this and back to the others as if this fight had nothing to do with him. The man blinked a few times in surprise but focused his full attention back on his upcoming assailant now that he didn't have to worry about protecting anyone.
A wide space opened up around them, a makeshift arena where no one dared interfere for fear of becoming collateral damage.
Slowly backing away from the clash toward a less intense part of the battlefield, another person in their group rushed to Alaric's side, taking a defensive position.
Minutes of desperate fighting passed, and a tenuous balance seemed to be restored, but Alaric knew this respite was an illusion. The real struggle was just beginning.
"Hahahaha… Hehehe…"
As if an answer to his thoughts, one of the other two men standing by the side suddenly spread his arms wide and raised his head, laughing like a madman.
Everyone turned toward him briefly, giving him strange, perplexed looks that seemed to ask:
What the hell are you laughing about?
The man then spoke aloud, his tone filled with joy and reverie.
"The array is finally completed and ready. I'll be activating it now."
At the final leader's nod of approval, the surrounding area suddenly lit up in a whirlwind of rainbow lights.
The environment shifted violently. It felt as though they were being thrown underground or transported to an alternate space. What had been an open woodland suddenly transformed into a cave-like structure, the air stifling and thick. The attackers, however, seemed unburdened by these conditions.
Alaric felt his movements becoming sluggish, each step heavier than the last.
'Of course, they'd cover the escape route with a damned array just to be safe' he thought grimly.
These people really wanted them dead by all means.
He looked toward the direction where the guardian and the slouched stranger in black were fighting. Despite the restrictions, the guardian still held the upper hand, pushing the man back again and again.
In just a few short exchanges, the slouching man, despite still being covered by arcs of lightning, already had multiple sword wounds, bleeding from several spots. His movements were slowing, and he was showing signs of weakness due to blood loss.
The guardian, on the other hand, remained strong and undefeated, standing upright with his back straight and head held high like a knight from legends. His aura only grew more valiant, and his his presence even more commanding.
But even as he fought, his gaze would constantly flicker toward the two remaining leaders of the raiding party, as if scared of getting ganged up on.
Alaric, too, kept a wary eye on those two, wondering how to break the array and escape this damned underground illusion.
As he contemplated a plan, the defenses around him suddenly began to crumble. A flood of rogues broke through, launching another wave of attacks.
From the distance, the leader of the rogues finally moved. His presence amplified the pressure, reinforcing the slouch and turning the tide into a brutal, one-sided assault.
The balance shattered in an instant, and this time, it was catastrophic.
The rogue leader's strength rivaled the guardian's, and with the slouch supporting him, the battle turned hopeless. In less than a minute, the once-valiant guardian was a battered shell of himself. Gaping holes had been torn through his abdomen, leaking light like blood, and his right leg bent at an unnatural angle, jutting backward as if broken and barely held together
He would occasionally summon huge boulders or spikes made out of polished stone to stab at the guardian, creating gaping holes in his being or would move into close combat and match the guardian's strength with his own. The tall man began to be completely suppressed by the two, falling into a passive state of life and death.
Their already hopeless straits became dire and the center stage for these three behemoths became a large death zone, with sword slashes, streaks of lightning and huge boulders flying chaotically in the air.
Three particularly swift opportunists ignored the others and rushed straight toward Alaric, who was at the back end, alongside the guard who was there to protect him.
"Get behind me, lord!"
the guard screamed in a shrill voice, swiftly moving to intercept. But he was immediately pushed aside by two of the attackers, forced to desperately defend himself.
The last one dashed toward Alaric, a malevolent glint in his bloodthirsty eyes.
A/N: Don't be shy to tell me what you think, and happy reads :-P